Crying in public was considered normal until the Industrial Revolution, when diligent unemotional workers were needed to operate machinery.

Men’s tear ducts are smaller than women’s tear ducts.

One major stress hormone released from the body via tears, prolactin, is found in much higher concentration in women's bodies than in men's. (This makes sense when you consider that the hormone is also implicated in the synthesis of breast milk).

In Japan, crying for emotional release is all the rage, or so reports the Independent. The Japanese call it the "crying boom" - everyone wants a bit of sadness in their lives. Instead of going to a karaoke bar after work to wind down, businesspeople watch weepy films (called "tear films") at these crying clubs. There is also a huge demand for sad TV dramas and books, each graded by its ability to induce tears.

how odd! i know what you mean crying makes you SO tired and i almost always fall asleep...like when my mom told me my cat was basically dying...i cried for hours off and on and then went to sleep :( kind of odd. ...maybe its me

I never really understood why crying makes you so incredibly exhausted (like, if you spent the better part of a day crying about something really sad). I always feel like the life has been sucked out of me afterwards and end up sleeping for ages (ok now it sounds like I have crying fits all the time! I really don't!).